Random Synapses

In the past years, I have participated to quite a few discussion forums (message boards) using the same alias (nickname) instead of my real name. I was googling that nickname today and, among results pointing at my own messages on various forums, found that someone I knew was debating the use of nicknames instead of real names in online interactive communication. He gave my nickname and membership to two forums as an example, and then he concluded that people use nicknames online because anonymity is appealing only to those with (inferiority) complexes, that kids and teenagers want to be something/someone else, to have their own chosen names as some sort of rebellion against the names given by their parents. And, to top it all, this person was using a nickname as well! Man, this pissed me off.

I have the right to privacy and to not disclose any personal information unless I want to. There are way too many weirdos and idiots online to be stupid enough to publish my personal data for anyone to see and invite all these strangers and their obscure intentions into my private life. The first rule of properly using the Internet is to never disclose personal information to strangers. Never assume everyone has legitimate intentions and will use this information properly. Never ever. It’s for my own protection. I commonly use a nickname and only give private information to trusted parties. Don’t open the box of secrets because it will be surprisingly difficult to close it in a crisis situation and contain the damages.

Back in the days when my contributions were published in a printed monthly magazine, I was using my real name. My articles, published in print and online, are signed with my real name. But should I use my real name for silly discussions with strangers? Effin’ no! What if some moron gets pissed at something I wrote and decides to settle things in real life, finding out my home address or private phone number to harass me, or worse? For what, for an effin’ online discussion forum? That’s simply not worth taking any risks. Again: there are far too many idiots out there, do not publish any personal information if you don’t have to. I’m not cutting these morons any slack either, so there’s probably a few of them that would love to teach me a lesson if the opportunity arises.

At one point I was considering writing a detailed page about me on this blog. But that information could be used in harmful ways. Why would I want to freely distribute it to anyone with an Internet connection, without keeping some sort of control over it? Even as little as my specific education history could help someone identify me, since I was no ordinary student. My full first name is also extremely rare (I’d be surprised to find 2 other people in the 23 million of this country with that same first name), so using it would blow my anonymity completely.

Using a nickname is simply a prudent approach, a protection and control mechanism, not paranoia. My contributions to those discussion forums are still signed by me through that unique nickname. It was me posting them, not an alternate personality, and I take full responsibility for their content. However, I will not disclose my real name in public when there’s no need to and when I don’t know that this information will be properly used by people with access to it. I’m not a kid with inferiority complexes or personality disorders, nor a coward; I am just following the principles of using the Internet to my own advantage.

If you have no problem with getting some surprise encounters, by all means post your personal details as you please. But don’t judge me for playing safe. I make my own decisions for my own reasons.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 30th, 2006 at 3:53 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.